COMMUNITY FORUM

Tree Roots in Main Sewer Line

Just wanted some feedback on a situation that I am currently faced with...

House built = 1927; Trees surrounding main sewer line = yes, 50ft elms; Line clogged with roots = you bet.

I was unfortunate enough to have waste water bubbling up through one of the floor drains in my basement each time the ejector pump fired up (catch basin filled with no where to go but backwards), so I called my regular plumber, knowing that the main line was stopped up and that he had a large line rodder. He was partially successful in opening the drain, but could not open in to a tolerable level due to the snaggle of tree roots that he ran into. His suggestion is to locate the main line outside, find the infultrated section of pipe, replace it with PVC, run a 6" cutter through the line to get rid of all the roots, and install a ground level external clean-out in my front yard to leave easy access for future roddings inasmuch as this root problem obviously will not ever totally go away. Price = not cheap, but am I at least on the right track?